Sunday was the end of the Shiva (the week of mourning). It technically ended Friday, but since it fell on Shabbot, we had to end it after. We went to the cemetery in the morning to end it officially. The men of the family read passages from the Old Testament. It was really hard to be there. After they had finished reading, most of us couldn't hold it together anymore and just broke down...including me. This week I've been able to put up a front, but it's been hard for me knowing that if I would've been here just a few days earlier, I would've been able to see my Savta one last time. Right now, where she is buried is covered only with rocks, but when it's been 30 days since her passing, they will clear the rocks and place a proper stone in memorial of her.
After this, we went to my grandparent's house and got ready to head over to Jerusalem. Me, my dad, my uncle Eli, aunt Lida, and cousin Michal all went to Jerusalem. After we arrived in the Old City, we went through the Arab quarter to the church where Jesus' tomb is (obviously they built around it.) It's a beautiful Orthodox church with nuns and priests walking around it. Inside, there was the stone where Jesus' body was laid. A lot of people were kneeling down and praying or kissing the stone. I touched it, but I'm pretty sure I'd be kissing a lot more people's saliva before I got to actually kiss the stone. Haha. Then inside another room of the temple was a sort of covered shrine built around the tomb where his body laid. The line was a good hour long to get in, so I just peeked in from the door. Overall, the church was beautiful, with amazing mosaics and paintings covering the walls and ceiling of it.
Next, we went through the Christian quarter to the Western Wall. The Western Wall is the last remaining wall of the original temple. It's divided into two sections: men (about 75%) and women (who are allowed to have a small section of about 25% of the wall). People believe it is closest to the Holy of Holies. In cemeteries, all the bodies are oriented towards the direction of Jerusalem. People write down their prayers and fold them into every crack, crevice, and spot there is on the wall within their reaching range. They'll stand there and pray. Pray for anything - family, friends, life, ones who have passed... After they pray, they'll leave, however they walk backwards because they do not believe they should turn their back to the wall.
After the wall it was starting to get a bit late, so we went back to the car, but passed through the Armenian quarter and the Jewish quarter. We drove to have a late lunch (it was about 5 pm by the time we had lunch), and on the way, we passed a demonstration in front of the Prime Minister's house for the kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit, who has been held in the Gaza Strip for 5 years now. When we last came to Israel in 2006, he had just been kidnapped. It was his birthday yesterday (Aug 28) and they held the annual demonstration, hoping that the Prime Minister would send troops to get Gilad back from the strip. He's been there for 5 years, and has only been seen once on TV on the Israeli Independence Day and 3 letters. It's really sad. Hopefully he'll be reunited with his family soon. After driving past this, we went to lunch and then headed back to Tel Aviv so I could grab some clothes and go sleep at my aunt and uncle's house in Afula, where they live in their house on a huge plot of land.
In the morning, we went to the north. First we went to Nazareth to the Basilica of Annunciation, where Mary was told that she would have a child to be named Jesus. Outside the church, the walls are lined with mosaic pieces of art sent to the church by other countries. There were so many. Inside the church, there was a service going on. There were about 20-25 people sitting around in a square singing a hymn while a priest walked around and gave them their communion.
After this, we went to the Sea of Galilee. We stopped at the church where Jesus performed the miracle of turning a few loaves of bread and a few first into food for 5,000 people. We also went to Capernum, where Jesus lived. I'm honestly pretty burnt out, so I don't really remember much else. I'll let you know after I look through the pictures.
At night, we came back to Tel Aviv and we went out to dinner with a good 85% of the family. It was nice to have one last meal with everyone (almost) until next time. Tomorrow my flight leaves around 2:50 TLV time, and arrives in Rome at 5:45 (Italy time.)
Sorry for my mind barf: I'm pretty nervous about going. I think I'm just afraid that it'll be hard to make friends cause most people already know each other from before. My roommates all seem really nice, so hopefully I'll be able to become good friends with them. Ahh... I don't know. It's just so weird that I'm going to be living in a foreign country for 4 months (including this past 1.5 weeks in Israel). I'm going to try to push these fears aside and just see what happens. In less than 24 hours I'll be in Rome, so I think I can do that till then.
Anyway, it's like pretty much 1 am and I still have to take a shower, finish packing, and do laundry. Fun right?
So.. next time I write I'll be in Rome. Wish me luck!
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